More lawsuits filed against retailers, others

DENVER — A new round of lawsuits for victims of contaminated cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in 2011 includes two lawsuits involving Pueblo residents who allegedly became seriously ill.

The listeria outbreak was traced not to the farm at Holly, but to a packing plant near Granada where the cantaloupes were washed and processed.

The two Pueblo-related lawsuits are among numerous new lawsuits filed in 12 states against retailers who sold the product, the distributor Jensen used and a food safety laboratory company.

Thirty-three people died and 147 in 28 states were infected, according to the Marler Law Firm of Seattle, which is representing many of the victims or their families. They claim they have had total medical expenses in excess of $12 million and their lawsuits seek monetary damages.

The two new cases tied to Pueblo were filed by families of Dimas C. Nunez and of Betty Mills, which allege they were infected by contaminated cantaloupe from King Soopers stores.

The Nunez lawsuit states he was hospitalized in September 2011 at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center and died Dec. 1, 2012, “having never recovered” from his listeria illness, according to the Marler Law Firm.

The Mills lawsuit states she was hospitalized at St. Mary-Corwin in September and October 2011. She died Feb. 21, 2012, and the immediate cause of death was a heart attack, the law firm said.

Her medical bills were nearly $370,000 and the medical bills of Nunez were more than $76,000, the law firm said.

Other lawsuits against Jensen Farms, which declared bankruptcy, and other defendants already have been settled for $3.8 million.